An electronic sensor unit is required to remain operational during the time that the sensor unit is waiting to receive an object to sense. For example, consider a sensor unit that is designed to sense the presence of a finger and obtain fingerprint information from the finger. When a person places a finger on the sensing site of the sensor unit, the sensor unit must be operational in order to perform the sensing function. This means that the sensor unit must continually remain in operational mode.
However, continually remaining in an operational mode requires a needless expenditure of power when there is no object present for the sensor unit to detect. Because a sensor unit may be used in a battery operated system for extended periods of time, it would be very advantageous if the power consumption of the sensor unit could be minimized.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a system and method for minimizing power consumption in an electronic sensor unit. It would also be advantageous to have a system and method that is capable of operating an electronic sensor unit in a power conservation mode (i.e., a “low power” mode) when no object is present for the sensor unit to detect.
Before undertaking the Detailed Description of the Invention below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like.
The term “controller” means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation. A controller may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.
Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior uses, as well as to future uses, of such defined words and phrases.